The present invention relates to a storage device for storing valuable media, such as banknotes. In particular, the invention relates to a media storage device for use in a self-service terminal. The invention also relates to a self-service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM), incorporating such a storage device.
ATMs are public access terminals that provide a convenient, reliable, and secure source of cash and other financial transactions and services in an unattended environment.
ATMs typically include a storage device for storing banknotes that are not delivered to a user (rejected banknotes) or not removed by a user (purged banknotes). There are a number of reasons for a banknote being picked from a currency cassette but not being presented to a user, for example: if multiple notes are picked instead of a single note, then the multiple notes are diverted to the storage device; or, if a note is poorly stacked or has incorrect dimensions, then it will be diverted to the storage device. If notes are presented to a user and the user does not remove the notes, then the notes will be purged by retracting them and sending them to the storage device.
This storage device arrangement has a number of problems. These problems principally relate to reconciling the banknotes in the storage device with the transactions logged by the ATM to balance the cash put into the ATM with the cash remaining in and dispensed from the ATM. To perform this reconciliation, each banknote in the storage device must be associated with the transaction in which that banknote was sent to the storage device. This can be difficult because:                banknotes that have been purged become mixed with banknotes that have been rejected;        a user may remove some (but not all) banknotes from a bunch of presented banknotes, so that not all of the banknotes that were originally presented are purged;        multiple banknotes may be picked in a single operation and sent to the storage device, and it may be difficult to determine how many banknotes were picked in that single operation.        